Currently around 11m of us file a tax return by that awful deadline of 31st Jan. That might sound like a lot, but is only around a third of those who actually pay tax. There are many who don’t currently pay tax, and many who will or should be tax returning next year; but most won’t realise they should. Increases in interest rates, for instance, mean that if you have anything around £25-30,000 in a halfway-decent bank account, you’ll be earning enough interest to have to declare it. And next year, the good news that state pensions will go up by 8.5% brings the bad news that many, again, will have to start paying tax on them. Popular misconception: they’ll tell you if you need to send a return. No, it’s up to you to declare any tax you think you might owe. Chaos ensuing, I’d say.
“Advice firm Almond Financial moves to four-day working week”
The Four Day Week was much discussed and trailed post-COVID, when remote-working looked likely to end strap-hanging commutes for good and laptops on the kitchen table were to become the ’new norm’.